Naas racecourse stage an exciting weekend of racing © Photo Healy Racing
Naas Racecourse is gearing up for a mega weekend of Flat racing this Saturday and Sunday with over €500,000 in prize money on offer over the two days.
With an Oktoberfest-themed weekend, Naas will play host to the Irish Stallion Farms EBF Birdcatcher Premier Nursey Handicap on Saturday as well as the RFL Steels Stakes, while on Sunday the Irish EBF Auction Series Race Final is the feature contest.
A total of 19 juveniles have been nominated for the Irish Stallion Farms EBF Birdcatcher with Group 1 entry The Parthenon heading the entries for champion trainer Aidan O’Brien who has also entered Snapdragon.
The race was won last year by Glamorously for trainer Jessica Harrington and the Moone-based trainer could be represented this weekend by Kodilicious for the It’s All About The Girls Syndicate.
Course and distance winners Amazing Athena and Tommy McJohn may represent trainers Johnny Murtagh and Michael O’Callaghan respectively with O’Callaghan also potentially represented by South Shore Island in the €40,000 contest.
Recent winners Last Encore, Likedbymike, Saint Brandon and Smoke Them Out all add depth to the 2024 renewal of the Birdcatcher.
The Ger Lyons-trained My Mate Alfie will look to rack up a hat-trick of successive wins in the RFL Steel Stakes. The son of Dark Angel has won four times in total and snared big prizes on his last two outings at The Curragh to earn him the lofty rating of 113.
My Mate Alfie is the standout entry in this sprint contest but could face opposition from Big Gossey, who was second to My Mate Alfie last time and the Pat Foley-trained Tango Flare. The Aidan O’Brien-trained His Majesty and Shiela Lavery’s Torivega are also rated north of 100, while Ojw Legacy and Staysound Susie may represent last years winning trainer Andrew Slattery.
On Sunday the feature contest is the tenth running of the Irish EBF Auction Series Race Finale for which 26 horses remain among the entries.
In a year that sees the Irish EBF Auction Series surpass €6m in prize money, 19 trainers still hold an entry in Sunday’s €120,000 Finale race with 10 previous winners among the acceptors.
Jessica Harrington, Joseph O’Brien and Noel Meade, who each won previous renewals of the Finale, are among the trainers with multiple entries.
O’Brien’s 94-rated Sigh No More is joined by stable companions Dignam, Last Encore and Green Brothers. Harrington has left in Adrenaline Rush and Kurrawa who would both be finding a very lucrative way to lose their maiden tag, while Meade has Leopardstown winner Heishybrid and Bellewstown scorer Sugar Club in the race.
Speaking about the Irish EBF Auction Series, Meade commented: “It’s a great initiative and it's a great bonus to have to be able to come to race those horses that don't cost a fortune in a race, like they're worth that sort of money and up against the horses their own kind, shall we say. And it's a fabulous initiative and long may it last.”
The former champion jumps trainer won this race with Lady Of Inishfree in 2021 and added: “You go to the yearling sales trying to buy horses that will win races. And if you're buying horses that are lesser money, obviously it’s a help to have something like this series in your mind, and to have the races through the year even like without the final at all.
“The other races are fantastic to be able to run in, there's one of these auction races every couple of weeks and it is something that you can always buy cheaper horses and you can say to an owner, look, this horse has all these races he can run in and he can also run in the other ones anyway. And if he's good enough, the sky's the limit”
Also on Sunday is the Irish Stallion Farms EBF Garnet Stakes and the Irish Stallion Farms EBF Bluebell Stakes.
Both races have received strong entries with 26 going forward for both. Joseph O’Brien appears to hold a strong hand in the Garnet Stakes with Goldana and Uluru, while in the Bluebell Stakes the in-form team of Michael Halford and Tracey Collins will look to land the €50,000 contest with Ameerat Jumaira.
The action packed weekend features 15 races and plenty for racegoers off the track and more details can be found on naasracecourse.com.
